Burton's Walk-Off Single Staves off Sidney's Elimination - Legion Seniors District Tournament

Trailing against Gering 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and facing an 0-2 count, senior third baseman Kyle Burton looped a two-run walk-off single into shallow left field that saved the Post 17 Sidney senior team from elimination in the district tournament, Sunday evening at Bower Park in Alliance.

The Sidney players charged out of the dugout and dog piled Burton right after the ball fell onto the left field grass and the 6-5 comeback win was sealed.

With two outs, right fielder Scott Phillips and TJ

Garska on second and third respectively and the 0-2 count to Burton, manager Mark Onstott called for time to give his third baseman a moment to breathe with Sidney's season on the line.

"It's about relaxing the kids," manager Onstott said. "They've been in this situation before, and it's really just re-focusing him, taking a second to clear his mind. I told him to just put a good swing on the ball, get the bat on the ball and let's see what happens."

With his and Sidney's back against the wall, Burton tried to make things as simple for himself as possible.

"I was expecting a fastball," Burton said. "He threw me one inside and I just focused on putting the bat on the ball and it worked out."

This win was a total team effort for Sidney. Everyone played a role that led to the emotional result. Even without star catcher Colton Onstott, who was suspended after his ejection in Saturday night's game against Alliance, Sidney found a way to pull out the most important victory of its season. Senior right-hander Lane Harvey got the start for Sidney. The first inning was a bit rough and he was in some trouble right off the bat.

Gering starting hurler Brent Barge led off with a single to left and Harvey hit the next two batters-Dillon DeMott and Nate Ferreyra-with a pitch.

With the bases loaded, Gering cleanup hitter Esai Hernandez dug in at the plate and rolled a softly-hit infield single to second baseman Jaden Sears that scored Barge.

Sears attempted to nab Barge at home but his throw was a little late. He redeemed himself on the next play however when Logan Conn grounded another ball right to him. This time Sears' throw was in time at home to shoot down the speedy DeMott.

Catcher Austin Reynolds followed with a two-out single to center that scored Ferreyra, giving Gering an early 2-0 lead. Harvey then fanned center fielder Walker Britsch to end the frame.

After the game Harvey admitted he was a little out of form early in the contest.

"I was a little rusty in the first inning because I've been out of pitching for a couple of months," Harvey said. "I just wanted to throw strikes and hit my spots for the first part."

Barge, who started for Gering, held Sidney scoreless for the first three innings.

Sidney had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second when Sears led off with a single past the out-stretched arm of Gering shortstop Ferreyra. Garska then reached first on an error by Ferreyra. But Barge buckled down and stranded Sears and Garska on base as he quickly got three straight

outs.

Leading 2-0, Gering got back to work in the top of the fourth. With one out, Britsch put down a beautifully placed bunt that turned into an infield single. He stole second with right fielder Jacob Brester at bat. Brester grounded out to Burton, who made a routine throw to first baseman Skyler Arent.

But right as the ball left Burton's hand, Britsch dashed for third, forcing an errant throw by Arent back to Burton, who couldn't pick it cleanly. Britsch came into score Gering's third run of the game as the ball rolled to the fence.

Sidney finally responded in the bottom of the fourth. For the second time on the afternoon, the first two Sidney hitters reached base-on another Sears single and a Garska hit-by-pitch. With runners on first and second and no outs, Arent shot an RBI single deep into the left center gap that scored Sears and moved Garska to third.

Burton next brought home Garska on a sac fly to left field, cutting Gering's lead down to 3-2.

Energized by the two runs his offense generated for him, Harvey worked a shutdown fifth frame, allowing only a one-out infield single to DeMott.

It looked like another 1-2-3 inning for Barge in Sidney's half of the fifth. But with two outs, Garska worked a walk, setting up Arent.

Garska stole second-his third steal of the game-and then Arent laced a hard hit RB I single-his second of the game-that ate up second baseman Nic Bibb and scored Garska for the tying run.

Arent was one of three Sidney players with at least two hits in the game.

"Out of his [Barge's] hand, I was looking for rotation, see if he was trying to throw a curveball," said Arent, who finished the day 2-4 with a pair of RBI singles. "I was waiting to see if it was going to be a strike or not and swing if it was close."

Sidney's excitement didn't last long though. With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth, Britsch smoked an RBI triple to the wall in right center that scored Reynolds, who was hit by a Harvey offering with one out. Gering re-captured the lead 4-3.

The next batter Brester hit a grounder to Garska at short that looked like an easy out. But Garska couldn't decide whether to throw home or to first and couldn't get the ball out of his glove. Everyone was safe as Britsch scored Gering's fifth run.

Back on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, Barge retired the Sidney 9-1-2 hitters in short order, ensuring that Gering held on to its 5-3 advantage heading into the final inning.

Harvey responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the seventh, keeping Sidney in striking distance with three outs to score one run to keep the season alive.

Harvey finished with a complete game, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out five Gering batters and walking none. Right on cue, Harvey led off Sidney's seventh inning with a pop up double that fell into a gaping, defender-less hole in right field.

Phillips scored him with a rocket RBI double to the left center gap and suddenly the Sidney dugout was rocking, now trailing by just one with no outs.

Sears lined a ball to center field that was caught, but Phillips smartly tagged up and took third on the play. With Garska at the plate and one away, Ferreyra came into relieve Barge, who finished his night after throwing 6.1 innings and allowing four runs on nine hits.

Garska took a six pitch walk from Ferreyra, bringing Arent to the plate with Sidney runners on first and third.

A pitcher himself, Garska felt he knew what to expect from Ferreyra as the reliever.

"Anytime you come into that situation as a pitcher, you know you're going to be nervous, from personal experience," Garska said.

Then Arent-in his fourth at-bat of the game-hit a groundout to first that advanced Garska to second. But Phillips had to hold at third as first baseman Hernandez looked him back.

That set up Burton, whose clutch two-out, two-strike single scored both Phillips and Garska, allowing Sidney to fight another day.

Austin Pile and Jaden Sears combined to go 5-7 with a stole base in the game. Burton finished with a trio of RBIs on the day.

Sidney will play Monday at 6pm against Ogallala in another elimination game.

LINE SCORE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

Gering 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 6 1

Sidney 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 6 10 2

BOX SCORE

AB H R RBI 2B 3B SO BB SB HBP

Holtz 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Pile 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Harvey 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Phillips 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0

Sears 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Garska 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 2 0 1

Arent 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

Burton 3 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0

Wakefield 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0